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A tournament in trouble Attendance drops again at New Haven Open By Roger Cleaveland Republican-American

Simona Halep, of Romania, kisses the trophy after her 6-2, 6-2, victory over Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, in the final of the New Haven Open tennis tournament in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

NEW HAVEN -- After her first match at the New Haven Open this week, four-time champion Caroline Wozniacki was asked if there was any way she could help ensure that the tennis tournament remains here for the foreseeable future. Could she use her pull in the locker room to convince other players to embrace the tourney the way she has?

She smiled, and without directly answering, politely said she hopes the tournament survives another four or five years so she can continue coming until she retires. She then apologized to tournament director Anne Worcester for not thinking about the tournament beyond her own playing days.

Worcester laughed and said there were no hard feelings because she wasn't sure she would last any longer than that here, anyway. The two joked about retiring together in New Haven. They should be so lucky, Wozniacki that she can accomplish enough in the next few years to happily retire in her late 20s and Worcester that this 16-year old tournament lasts another half-decade.

Attendance dropped for the eighth straight year to its

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second-lowest total ever, a mere 45,796 fans. That's down 13.6 percent from last year when the tournament drew 53,004 fans.

While it actually drew fewer total fans in 1998 with a crowd of 40,351, there were only six sessions of women's tennis that year. That same year, in a separate week, the Connecticut Tennis Center hosted a men's tournament that drew 86,251 fans.

Even if you look solely at the 1998 women's tourney, it drew an average of 6,725 fans per session, or more than double this year's average (3,271 per 14 sessions).

At its height as a single, combined men's and women's tournament, it drew 100,375 fans in 2005.

Not everything is as it bleak at it appears, according to Worcester. She is a master of creating a positive spin, and it is her job to make the tournament look good. The bottom line, from the tournament's perspective, is that it sold more tickets than it did last year.

Worcester said that in a multi-tiered effort to create a better atmosphere and put the tournament on a more solid foundation moving forward, all the seats were consolidated into the lower bowl and fewer tickets were given away.

Sponsors received fewer tickets in their packages and fewer were donated to charities or in trade for goods and services. Worcester said the best example of why this year's attendance is encouraging was Sunday's Aetna Kids day. Last year's attendance was 5,412, but only 1,865 of those tickets were actually sold. This year's attendance dropped to 4,198 on Sunday, but 3,206 tickets were purchased.

Weeklong tournament box sales dropped about 10 percent, but multisession and group sales were up. More importantly, individual ticket sales, which make up the bulk of tickets sold, were up about 5 percent to leave ticket revenues slightly up.

"Paid attendance is up," Worcester said. "What keeps the lights on and what will keep the tournament going here are ticket revenues and not published attendance numbers. And sponsorship."

After losing title sponsor Pilot Pen three years ago, Worcester saved the tournament by diligently piecing together cornerstone sponsors American Express, Yale, Aetna and Yale-New Haven Health Center, along with presenting sponsor First Niagara. All five signed three-year agreements.

So technically speaking, the tournament is without a major sponsor right now. Cursory talks have been held with the five cornerstone sponsors about returning, but all said they wanted to get through this year's tournament before discussing commitment level for the future.

While that may sound ominous, Worcester said the increased involvement and presence all five showed in this tournament leaves her encouraged. Yet sponsorship agreements need to be in place in three months to have enough time to prepare for next year's tournament.

"I can't sit here and say I have funding for the next three years ... but I couldn't be more optimistic about all five cornerstones renewing," Worcester said. "They have all indicated they want this tournament to continue and that they want to continue to be a part of it. I have had nothing but positive signs."

Another encouraging sign is that the state is behind the tournament. For the second year in a row, Gov. Dannel Malloy made an appearance along with development authority officials. This year, the state also provided a $260,000 bond to spruce up the facilities and a $400,000 grant to offset operating costs.

"In my 16 years, this is the first time the state has recognized the value of this tournament economically, marketing-wise and making the state a more interesting place to live, work and visit," Worcester said. "They have been a tremendous partner, and they want to do more. That is a very important piece of this."

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